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MySpace Glitch Gives Hackers Teen Data

By Martin H. Bosworth
ConsumerAffairs.com

August 31, 2006

• Facebook Agrees to Upgrade Safety Measures • Hanna Montana Photo Flap Part of a Trend • New Jersey Investigating College Gossip Site • No Easy Remedy for Imposter Postings on Social Networking Sites • Social Networking Sites Not the Biggest Danger for Teens? • Keeping Teens Safe Online • MySpace Agrees To Toughen Security For Young Users • MySpace Harassment Case Takes Odd Turn • Texas Sues Kids' Web Sites • States Keep the Heat on Facebook, MySpace • Texas Rounds Up 14 Sex Offenders on MySpace • New Jersey Subpoenas Facebook • Predator Who Used MySpace Gets Seven-Year Sentence • Facebook Has 'A Long Way to Go,' Investigators Say • Cuomo Charges Facebook Ignores Sexual Predators • MySpace Deletes More Sex Offenders • New Jersey Targets Sex Offenders With MySpace Profiles • States To Get MySpace Sex Offender Data • MySpace Deletes Thousands Of Sex Offenders • States Press MySpace For Data On Sex Offenders • Survey Finds Teen Behaviors Linked with Victimization • New MySpace Security Measures May Be Too Late • MySpace Builds Database to Target Predators • Pittsburgh Man Arrested in MySpace Sex Case • New Scam Targets MySpace Users • States Cracking Down on Dating Sites • MySpace Glitch Gives Hackers Teen Data • FTC "Concerned" About MySpace & Other Networking Sites • Texas Teen Sues MySpace for $30 Million • MySpace Debuts $1.99 Video Downloads • Massachusetts Puts Heat on MySpace.com • MySpace Names Security Czar • Connecticut Asks MySpace to Provide Blocking Software to Parents • What's Inside MySpace.com? • Connecticut Opens MySpace.Com Probe --- • MySpace Complaints • Facebook Complaints

A security breach on MySpace that enabled users to view other users' private pictures and postings went unattended for several months, according to news reports.

UK-based Out-Law.com reported that the hack enabled MySpace users over 18 to view the personal profiles of users under 16.

MySpace had previously altered its service so that all profiles of users under 16 were private by default, requiring more steps for over-18 users to contact them.

Technology news site Digg.com reported links to Web pages describing the hack in detail, as well as other pieces of code that could be used to view MySpace members' private information. Although MySpace claimed to have fixed the hack, many enterprising readers were still finding ways to utilize the code and get around the fixes as of this writing.

"Thought your "private" MySpace comments were really private? Well, think again! This simple code lets ANYONE view all the comments on ANY private profile," boasted one article. "With a simple variation you can also view 'private' pictures. It's so simple, i dont know why someone didn't figure it out sooner."

North Carolina high school student Cory Holt, who also hosts a weekly podcast series on teens and technology, posted examples of the hack codes on his blog and noted that MySpace's failure to address it promptly wasn't just technological.

"This could even be a legal problem for MySpace if this got out," he said. "Because anyone can view someone's 'private content', the victim could say that MySpace was not protecting them, thus opening MySpace to a lawsuit."

News of the codes turned into a race between MySpace and the blogosphere, as fixes to every hack were matched with news of other ways to get around the blocks on private profiles.

Out-Law.com editor Struan Robertson said that the vulnerabilities found could be considered a breach of the UK's Data Protection Act. "There is best practice guidance in the UK for sites used by children and, if the allegations are true, it may be that MySpace fell short of the standard expected," he said.

The MySpace hack is the latest front in the war between the hugely popular social networking site and authorities who have criticized it for enabling easy communication between underage teens and sex offenders.

In addition to setting up stronger security on underage users' profiles, MySpace responded to the criticism by naming a "security czar" to oversee security and privacy, and better police underage users of the site.

But Rupert Murdoch's new media cornerstone took another hit when a 14-year-old girl sued MySpace for $30 million after she alleged she was sexually assaulted by a 19-year-old she met on the site. It was after the suit was announced that MySpace instituted the privacy protections for underage users that ended up being hacked.

Although MySpace could be held culpable for not instituting better security measures in a timely fashion, observers also remarked on how common sense is sorely lacking when it comes to posting private information online.

Digg.com commenter "kevgig" put it best when he said that "This is exactly why I do not have a [MySpace] account ... Just goes to show that if there are parts of your life that you do not want to share with the world, keep it to yourself."

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